The Best Years of Our Lives
by Seadragon
Summary: Alanna, Jon, Raoul, and Gary decide to play a little prank, you know, for old time’s sakes. Unfortunately, they played a prank on the wrong people… Soon, they find themselves reliving some of the most, let’s say interesting, years of their lives.
1. Chapter 1: Very, Very, Er, Busy?

**Title:** The Best Years of Our Lives [TBYOL]

**Author:** Seadragon

**Genre:** Humor/Action/Adventure

**Rating:** Pg-13

**Summary: **Alanna, Jon, Raoul, and Gary decide to play a little prank, you know for old time's sakes. Unfortunately, they played a prank on the wrong people… Soon, they find themselves reliving some of the most, let's say interesting, years of their lives. Oops! Next time guys, chose someone else to prank!****

- - - - -

**Chapter 1:** _Very, Very, Er, Busy._

- - - - -

"Alright, so, in, dump the frogs, out?"

"Yup, but don't forget the last step!"

"Which is?"

"Run for our freakin' lives."

"Oh…"

The King's Champion, Sir Alanna of Pirate's Swoop and Olau, King Jonathan of Tortall, Knight Commander Lord Raoul of Goldenlake and Malorie's Peak of the King's Own, and Sir Gareth the Younger of Naxen, Prime Minister to the King of Tortall, were very busy.

At least, they were pretending to be very busy by locking themselves into a conference room, after all, they had lots of work to do! At least, they should have lots to do. Together they were in charge of the entire kingdom. This was quite worrying, if you thought about it. Who would suspect that they were just _pretending to be busy so that they could lock themselves in a conference room, thus letting the kingdom fall apart into itty bitty pieces and burn- er, wrong story. Continuing on, who would suspect that they were just __pretending to be busy so that they could lock themselves in a conference room, _just_ to plan their prank on some _very_ important people, which would cause great amounts of havoc, which would result in their imprisonment of a third kind?!_

Good, now say that very fast.

They had decided that life at the Royal Palace was getting a bit boring, and that it needed livening up. Of course, livening up is just a politer way of saying raising all hell, but we'll just stick to livening up. Maybe these four weren't the best for the job, seeing as they had a certain talented for wrecking havoc. But, they were also the best at getting away with murder, quite literally in Alanna's case.

Their plan was, er, _different. It was like a sort of cross between the chipmunk invasion of '33, and one of the more frequent pranks Alanna used on Jon. In other words, lots and lots of frogs._

Enough said.

Now, perhaps they hadn't exactly chosen the right victims. Those they had chosen were some of the older, strictly conservative, more restrained members of court, who wouldn't take kindly to pond animals taking over their conference room. But did that worry our demonic pranksters?

Not in the slightest.

Besides, they were four of the most powerful people, or most feared in Alanna's case, in all of Tortall. I mean, who was going to argue with the King? Or a crazy, short lady with a _very sharp sword, which was no match for her temper?_

No one.

So, there was nothing to worry about. Everything would be fine. It's not like they would _care if the people were angry, they couldn't exactly send the King to his room!_

Or so they thought…

Anyway, it wasn't like they were even going to know _who_ did it. Hence the 'run for our freakin' lives' part, as Alanna so eloquently put it. Therefore, they couldn't be punished, it wasn't like they were going to torture every resident of the Royal Palace until they found the culprits! They might run into a bit of legal trouble there.

They were all set, all they actually had left to do was, well, do it. (No not _that! This is a pg-13 story!) They had everything they needed. Frogs, bags, bags with frogs, frogs with bags, and a very detailed map of the castle with their escape route clearly marked._

After all, just because they were the most powerful people in all of Tortall, didn't mean they were _smart. You would think that would worry the people of Tortall, but I guess not. Anyways, as I said before, who is going to argue with a crazy, short lady with a _very_ sharp sword, which was no match for her temper?_

No one.

Which left them free to do _anything_. Well, almost anything. I don't think people would take too kindly to them blowing up the Palace, or using the Dominion Jewel to turn the snow into sugar and the water into acid. Or fill a conference room with frogs… But they didn't care, did they? But anyways, basically stuff like that.

But back to the prank.

It was quite simple really, just like Alanna said. In, dump frogs, out, run for lives. Four very simple, very foolproof steps, or so they said. These four would be very insulted by that line a little while later, but we aren't quite there yet, so sorry.

But now they only had one thing to do, and that was…

Liven things up a bit.

And we all know what that means…


	2. Chapter 2: Wasn't Us?

**Title:** The Best Years of Our Lives [TBYOL]

**Author:** Seadragon

**Genre:** Humor/Action/Adventure

**Rating:** Pg-13

**Summary: **Alanna, Jon, Raoul, and Gary decide to play a little prank, you know for old time's sakes. Unfortunately, they played a prank on the wrong people… Soon, they find themselves reliving some of the most, let's say interesting, years of their lives. Oops! Next time guys, chose someone else to prank!****

- - - - -

**Chapter 2:** _Wasn't Us?_

- - - - -

"Come on!"

"Shh! Do you want to get caught?"

"Why yes, I do. That'd be just marvelous."

"Oh shut up, both of you!" Gary hissed to Jon and Alanna, both of whom glared at him.

Raoul grinned. "Hey Alanna, why are you wearing a dress? And heels?"

Alanna redirected her scowl to him. "Because, they told me to act like a lady, or else!"

"Ah, who?"

"Yes, because it's just so ladylike to sneak around the palace with a big bag of frogs…"

"Shut up Gary!" Alanna sniffed imperiously. "The _queen_." She said icily. "Does she not remember that if it wasn't for me she would still be wandering around the fields of Sarain, stealing from innocent travelers?"

Raoul snorted.

Gary rolled his eyes.

"Oh shut up, both of you!"

"Er, Alanna?"

"What?!"

"We didn't say anything."

"Good for you! Now, SHUT UP!" Alanna snapped, crawling uncomfortably in a purple dress and heels.

A couple minutes later, they arrived at their destination point. Right underneath the window to the conference room they were planning to frog. Alanna's dress, needless to say, was ruined. Especially after she _accidentally_ fell in the pond.

Each of them had a bag of frogs in their hands, and they were about to have Jon open the window with his gift, jump in dump the frogs, and get out, and run, fast and far.

"It's open!" Jon whispered.

Alanna went first, followed by Raoul, Gary, and then Jon.

Everyone seated at the table was so involved in whatever they were doing that no one even noticed that a very muddy champion, the knight commander of the King's Own, the Prime Minister, and the king had climbed through the window and were holding large bags of frogs, with very evil looks in their eyes.

"1… 2… 3!" Alanna mouthed, and they upended the bags onto the floor, the table, and, in Alanna's case, the Duke Magistrate's head.

Chaos was immediate.

And then they ran.

Or tried to at least.

Alanna, who was in the lead, tripped while trying to get to the window, her heels making things quite difficult. The heel broke of one of the shoes, and she fell, cursing the queen and her ridiculous ideas.

"God damn it! These shoes will be the death of me!"

"I think it's more like you're gonna be the death of the shoes." Jon told her dryly.

None of them noticed some of the inhabitants of the room closing around them with malevolent looks on their faces.

What did catch Alanna's attention was someone bashing a frog over the head with an empty water pitcher.

"HOW _DARE YOU?! THAT FROG WAS WORTH MORE THAN YOUR LIFE!!!"****_

Jon noticed the very angry members of court, and smiled innocently. "Umm, it wasn't us?" Gary and Raoul nodded.

"Oh? Then what or who was it?"

"Trick of light?"

"Nice try."

Gary gulped. Mithros was he glad he had updated his will the other day, they didn't look too happy. Though, he supposed he couldn't blame them, especially the Duke Magistrate. I mean, _frogs, dumped on your __head. That just wasn't a pleasant experience._

"Just wait until I get my hands on you."

"Really! No respect. None what so ever!"

"I think that was very rude of you!"

"Well, we do try…"

"Er, Alanna?"  
  


"What?!" She snapped.

"I don't think you're helping." Raoul whispered, oh so helpfully.

"Really?" Alanna said sarcastically. "I hadn't noticed. I mean, I'm surrounded by angry nobles in a room full of bloody _frogs_ everyday! Aren't you? Besides, what can they do to us? I mean, I'm the King's Champion, you're the Knight Commander of the King's Own, Gary's the Prime Minister, and Jon's BLOODY KING! Tell me, what can they do?"

Lord Wyldon just grinned maliciously. 

Alanna gulped and smiled meekly. "Wasn't us?"


	3. Chapter 3: Punishment to Suit the Crime

**Title:** The Best Years of Our Lives [TBYOL]

**Author:** Seadragon

**Genre:** Humor/Action/Adventure

**Rating:** Pg-13

**Summary: **Alanna, Jon, Raoul, and Gary decide to play a little prank, you know for old time's sakes. Unfortunately, they played a prank on the wrong people… Soon, they find themselves reliving some of the most, let's say interesting, years of their lives. Oops! Next time guys, chose someone else to prank!****

- - - - -

**Chapter 2:** _Punishment to Suit the Crime_

- - - - -

"Now, let me tell you a little story…"

Our heroes were standing in Lord Wyldon's office, in front of his desk. All the other victims of their prank were seated around the room. Lord Wyldon himself was sitting behind his desk, elbows on the wood, and fingers steepled. He leaned forward menacingly.

"Uh, you really don't have to, really!" Alanna tried one last time to get out of this, without seeming to, after all, they were in enough trouble as it was, undoubtedly they wouldn't enjoy the story telling one bit.

"Nonsense." Lord Wyldon smiled wryly and the four knights leaned back unconsciously. "Once upon a time there were four very bad knights... Now I don't mean bad in the sense that they were bad at what they do, more that THEY COULDN'T BEHAVE TO SAVE THEIR LIVES!"

He shouted the last bit so loudly, Alanna wouldn't have been surprised if they could hear him all the way to the Roof of the World. The guilty party flinched.

"Now, we just need to find a punishment to suit the crime, don't you agree my Lord magistrate?" Wyldon asked, looking at the Duke, who nodded. "Now, since you played an extremely inappropriate, and childish, prank, that I would have expected from first year pages, not four such influential _adults_," He said the last word so sarcastically,  and with such poison, there was venom practically dripping from the words. "I have an _excellent_ idea for your punishment." Gary wondered if he knew how unsettling these words were.

All around the room, the somewhat slimy victims were nodding with huge, yet very false, smiles on their faces, and an evil glint in their eyes that Raoul didn't the like the look of one bit.

"Therefore, I have decided that I will make you…" He paused, making Alanna squirm in her seat. He was giving them time to imagine the worst, she just knew it. "Spend a month as pages." Whatever they had been expecting, this most certainly wasn't it.

"You're what?! We have to do what?! You're so de-"

"Calm Alanna, be calm, it is the key to everything." Gary told his friend, trying to keep her from strangling Lord Wyldon. Needless to say, he was failing miserably.

"Well you can shove your key up your a-"

"Language Page Trebond. Or it'll be punishment work for you." Wyldon said calmly, despite the fact that he was attempting to move slowly away from his desk to avoid the rabid Lady Knight trying to kill him, with out her noticing. It didn't work.

"Oh you are really asking for it now…" Alanna made threatening motions with her hands. Raoul and Gary both had a firm hand on her shoulders, keeping her pinned to the chair, oh the downfalls of being small. She glared at them. "Stop it, I'm not going to kill him! Yet…" She gave Wyldon a vampire smile and he unconsciously loosened his collar.

"You will be exactly the same as a first year page, and you will have a page sponsor. You will go to classes and do your homework. For every time you receive punishment work, I will add a day to the time you must remain pages. You will participate in training as well. You will sleep in the Page's Wing and obey your teachers, senior pages and squires, the training master, and any noble who asks for your service. And you will wear a pages uniform."

If looks could kill, Lord Wyldon of Cavall would be a pile of Stormwing droppings on the floor. Luckily for him, they couldn't unless you were Numair Salmalin, Duke Roger of Conte, or Lord Thom of Trebond, and two of the aforementioned are dead. Again, luckily for him.

Although looks couldn't kill, Alanna was seriously considering running the man through with her sword. And that would definitely kill him, luck or no. There is something about tempered steel that is very hazardous to the living. Luck had nothing to do with it anymore.

Even as her hand tightened on the hilt, and she began to draw the sword out of its sheath, Jon elbowed her in the side. Obviously, this meant they were in enough trouble as it was, and _do not_, under _any circumstances,__ make it worse by killing a very influential noble. Luck brought back in to play, she didn't. And this was lucky for both them and Lord Wyldon, because, no doubt, getting stabbed to death was _not_ very high on his "Things to Do" list. Ha, like it's on anyone's! Well, I guess Roger's an exception to that rule…_

Again, luckily Lord Wyldon didn't notice Alanna trying in vain to kill him, otherwise he would have given her punishment work for disobedience, and _that, was a severe understatement. Not to mention the fact that that would add an extra day to their torture, something they did __not want at all. Obviously._

Oh no, Lord Wyldon was too busy reveling in all his glory. Considering, this was perfectly acceptable, no one else had been able to catch the pranksters in the act, _and punish them. And he felt he had chosen a _very_ suitable punishment. After all, what was it they said? Ah yes, let the punishment suit the crime. And this most certainly did just that._

Right about now, Jon was wondering how evil a man had once been his Training Master. He also wondered how many more there were like him that he had trained. Because it just wasn't safe for the country if there were too many. People this evil had to be dealt with, and quick. Otherwise… He shuddered. He didn't even want to think about what could happen to his beloved country if someone like that took control. Not only would it be the end of his country, but it would be the end of all civilized life. And that wasn't a comforting thought.

But Gary was even more worried, and rightly so. After all, if they were pages, they would have to _eat with the pages. And that food wasn't exactly gourmet. Just thinking of it made his stomach roll, but, he supposed it could just be hunger. He hadn't eaten since breakfast, they had been too busy getting caught. He was going to have to have a word with Thayet once they were free from their punishment. If she hadn't forced Alanna to wear a dress and high heeled shoes, they could have been far, far away from the scene of the crime before the victims even knew what hit them._

But _no, Thayet just __had to chose today of all days to turn Alanna into a lady, albeit a frog toting, dress ruining, foul mouthed one. Oh yes, there would definitely be words. If they survived this that is._

Raoul was also thinking about his stomach, but not from hunger. He had gotten whacked in the middle with a water pitcher. Not a pleasant experience, let me tell you. He would be in no great hurry to repeat the incident. I don't think anyone in their right mind would be. But, then again, when has any one of these four _ever been in their right mind. Come to think of it, do they even have one?_

I certainly can't remember anytime in recent history when one of them demonstrated it.

But no matter, they were still going to have to suffer through one _very long month. And it wasn't going to be pretty._


	4. Chapter 4: Perhaps It Slipped His Mind?

**Title:** The Best Years of Our Lives [TBYOL]

**Author:** Seadragon

**Genre:** Humor/Action/Adventure

**Rating:** Pg-13

**Summary: **Alanna, Jon, Raoul, and Gary decide to play a little prank, you know for old time's sakes. Unfortunately, they played a prank on the wrong people… Soon, they find themselves reliving some of the most, let's say interesting, years of their lives. Oops! Next time guys, choose someone else to prank!****

- - - - -

**Chapter 4:** _Perhaps It Slipped His Mind?_

- - - - -

"Mithros, this is going to be so embarassing." Gary muttered to himself.

Raoul, who was standing right next to him, nodded.

All the pages had been assembled to meet the four new pages. As far as they knew, these were normal pages. Oh how very wrong they were. After all, there has never been a page who successfully killed the former training master before.

Oh, never mind, that hasn't happened yet. Wyldon was put under the witness protection program until Alanna calmed down and forgot about this, in other words, for the next fifty years.

Right now, the four new pages were together in Alanna's room, preparing for the humiliation that was about to be all theirs. They had all changed into their page uniforms reluctantly, and were just waiting for Alanna to hide a very large amount of weapons on her person.

Finally, she was done. Raoul felt sorry for any unsuspecting page that happened to cross her. Gary opened the door, and they filed out.

"This'll be fun." Alanna mumbled darkly. "I can't wait to hear what George has to say…"

"Hah, you're lucky, Thayet has banished me to the couch for a month when I get back." Jon told her as they walked down the hallway.

Alanna grinned. "Doesn't she realize this is completely her fault? After all, if she hadn't made me wear the damn dress and shoes, we would have been far away by the time anyone noticed there were frogs taking over the conference room."

"Some how, I don't think she really sees it that way. And unless you want to sleep on the couch too, I wouldn't mention it." Jon said darkly.

"Uh Jon?"

"Yes I realize you don't live with her, but she has her ways." He shuddered.

Gary raised his eyebrows. "I didn't know she was so, uh, evil?" 

"Well now you know. I would have thought you knew Alanna, after all, you did travel with her for quite a while."

"And such a long while it was." Alanna said dryly. "I wouldn't repeat the experience to save my life."

"No?" Raoul said slyly. "Not even if the Shang Dragon went along again?"

Alanna blushed crimson and kicked Raoul in the knee.

"Ow. Ow. Ow!"

"For the Knight Commander of the King's Own you're quite a baby." Gary informed Raoul, quickly moving out of range of the taller man's fist.

"Oh shut up, I don't see you being beaten on by the Lioness." Raoul snapped, hopping on one foot.

"That could be arranged…" Alanna said slowly.

Jon sighed. This was going to be a long month, if the pages didn't kill them first, they just might kill each other. At least there weren't any evil sorcerers to worry about this time. 

But now they had to worry about exactly what the pages were going to do when they found out the four most powerful people in their country were going to join them for a month, or more if Alanna didn't watch her tongue, and fists.

Silence slowly descended on the group of pages in the hallway. The current training master, Padraig haMinch, just stared.

"Is it just me," Alanna muttered. "Or does it look like haMinch doesn't have a clue what's going on here?"

"Definitely not just you." Jon said back quietly. "Wasn't Wyldon supposed to tell him?"

"Perhaps it slipped his mind." Gary suggested.

"Gary, in all the years I've known you, I never knew you were SO STUPID!"

Jon clamped a hand over Alanna's mouth and smiled weakly at Padraig. A second later he yanked his hand away cursing. "She bit me!" He told Raoul and Gary who were giving him weird looks. Alanna smiled sweetly at him and he scowled.

HaMinch just gave them a terrified look.

"Great." Raoul said. "Now you've gone and scared him."

"I made this man my training master?" Jon scoffed. "He scares easily, don't you think?"

"Don't look at me, I told you not to choose him. But did you listen to me, your champion? No-o." Alanna muttered.

Jon elbowed her, and she kicked him back. He grimaced and hobbled forward to talk to the training master. Alanna grinned and followed him, making threatening gestures to the pages that stared at her.

Without even turning around, Jon grabbed her arm. "Stop terrorizing them, you have to live with them for at least a month."

"You always ruin my fun." Alanna grumbled and wrestled her arm out of his grip.

Gary and Raoul walked up behind the bickering couple and smiled as reassuringly as they could at the terrified pages. A few pages backed away slowly, apparently they weren't as reassuring as they thought.

Later a page reported that Raoul looked like the Black God had possessed him and then he had been left in a room full of two-year-olds crying their eyes out. He never knew pages could be so descriptive…

"Er, My Lord?" Jon said hesitantly.

Padraig haMinch gave him a weird, slightly terrified, look. "Why are _you_ here?"

Alanna bristled. "Hey! Watch who you're talking to!"

Raoul winced.

With Alanna let loose, they were going to be here for a lot longer than a month. Luck brought back into play, they might be free in a year, or six.

Gary decided to intervene before Alanna and Jon made a complete disaster of it. "Didn't My Lord Wyldon speak to you? We have to spend a month as pages for, er, uh, frogs. Lets just leave it at that."

HaMinch looked like he was going to pass out any minute now. As fun as that would have been, it wouldn't do much good for them. With their luck, they would probably be blamed. It certainly wouldn't surprise him. But, the sooner they got out of here, the better, so, he would have to keep the man alive _somehow_.

"I'm sure you'll get a letter sooner or later."  
  
And that was when a breathless page came running in, only to run straight into Alanna, who proceeded to throw him into a wall.

Raoul winced again, and decided someone would have to teach Alanna tact, before they were stuck here for the rest of their lives.

Jon grabbed her and held her back before she could kill the poor boy.

The 'poor boy' in question stood up and hobbled over to Padraig. He handed the training master an envelope, and hobbled back to his place with the other pages.

The training master opened the envelope, and pulled out a very, very thick letter. He read it quickly, read it again, and again, and again…

"YOU HAVE TO DO WHAT?!"

"That's what I said." Alanna said smugly. Padraig gave her a withering look.

"Mithros, please, save me, they're going to kill me!" He said, staring up into the sky, as if a golden chariot was going to swoop down and carry him off into the clouds, and more importantly, away from the four people who were currently beaming expectantly at him. "That is," He added slowly. "If I don't kill them first…"

"I have twenty gold nobles on the Lioness!" A random page from the back of the group yelled. Others hastily made their own bets, and Alanna made a few sweeping bows. Jon whacked her in the arm, and was rewarded with an elbow in the stomach for his trouble.

Padraig haMinch slapped his hand to his forehead and groaned. This was going to be a _looong_ month.


	5. Chapter 5: Your Bloody King

**Title:** The Best Years of Our Lives [TBYOL]

**Author:** Seadragon

**Genre:** Humor/Action/Adventure

**Rating:** Pg-13

**Summary: **Alanna, Jon, Raoul, and Gary decide to play a little prank, you know for old time's sakes. Unfortunately, they played a prank on the wrong people… Soon, they find themselves reliving some of the most, let's say interesting, years of their lives. Oops! Next time guys, choose someone else to prank!

**Author's Note:** I love this story to bits, but this chapter definitely isn't my favorite so far. I dunno, but it's kind of lacking something. And… I can't believe it! 62 reviews for only four chapters! That is a personal best, I think. Damn, that's gonna bug me for a while now. Gah. Oh well, enjoy!

That shall be all,

_Seadragon_.

- - - - -

**Chapter 5:** _Your Bloody King_

- - - - -

"Today in Mathematics we are going to be practicing our algebra." The Mithran priest said, with a little too much enthusiasm.

Alanna sunk even lower in her seat and groaned. "Why me? After, what, twenty odd years they still utilize this torture on the pages. I suffered through enough of it for a lifetime."

Jon laughed and received a glare from the orange robed priest and a swift kick in the shin from Alanna.

"Goddess!" He shouted. "That hurt." He turned to hit Alanna back but froze as the priest called his name.

"Page Conte!"

Jon turned around slowly with an unmistakable look of horror. Alanna stifled a laugh with much difficulty. Even Raoul and Gary looked amused.

"I'll get you for this Alanna." Jon hissed.

"What was that?" The mathematics teacher asked with false interest. Jon colored and gave the priest a muttered reply. Gary snorted and shared a grin with Alanna.

"Page Conte, I want a three page report on obedience for tomorrow!" The Mithran priest said, much to the other three troublemakers amusement.

"What?! I'm your bloody king!"

"Alright, five pages." The priest told a seething Jon before turning back to the rest of the class to continue the lesson.

Alanna poked him in the arm as soon as the priest's eyes were off them. Jon swatted her away without even turning around and finished the rest of the class in a stony silence.

- - - - -

Their next class was history, which every single one of them had been looking forward to. Especially for the shock value, as Myles didn't know about their punishment yet. Alanna in particular couldn't wait, seeing as this was her adoptive father.

They filed into the classroom with the rest of the pages and took seats at the back of the class again, so they could surprise him a few minutes into the lesson. The other pages were slightly, well that would be lying, okay, they were excessively unnerved by the evil smile on the Lioness's face, and showed this by continually dropping things, or bumping into things, or, in one boy's case, breaking things. Namely his arm. Luckily for him though, this got him a get out of class free card, and therefore he would miss whatever the famed Champion and her friends were planning.

A couple of his friends were extremely jealous of him for this, and he received several cold, if somewhat jumpy, glares as he shuffled out of the classroom as quickly as his broken arm would permit.

When Myles finally came into the room, a grand total of five minutes late, two more pages were missing.

As he looked around the classroom, miraculously missing the four in the back, he noticed the three missing boys. "Where are Troy, Philip, and Jirim?"

A fourth year page at the very front of the room answered. "Er, Troy broke his arm, Philip has a bloody nose, and Jirim had about five pots of ink spill on him, and a bunch of cuts from the pots. They're all in the hospital wing."

Myles looked slightly alarmed, but didn't say anything.

"Alright, today we are going to discuss the assassination of Duke Yivern of Falcon Peak, brother of the 23rd King of Tortall."

Alanna grinned, this was her cue.

"But Myles," She said in a whiny voice. "We already learned that!"

"Yah, ages ago." Jon added, his voice equally annoying.

"And is was _really_ boring!" Raoul chimed in. Gary nodded.

Myles's head snapped up and he looked to the back of the class. As he caught Alanna's eye, all four of them grinned devilishly. His eyes widened slightly, and he coughed.

"Let me guess, Wyldon's revenge for the frogs?"

"How did you find out about that?" Gary asked, confusion clouding his eyes.

Myles gave them his own, equally devilish grin. "Oh, you know," He said airily. "Word gets around.

Alanna's eyes narrowed suspiciously at her father's back as he turned around to jot something on the board. He knew something, she was sure of it. And she wouldn't rest until she found out.

Actually, she wasn't going to rest period, until they got out of here.

And before she knew it, the class was over. The four of them had just skulked in the background, they had been telling the truth, they had learned this long ago.

Thankfully, it was the last class of the day, and after lunch, they could head over to the training yard. Hopefully, Alanna wouldn't beat the pages too badly.


	6. Chapter 6: For Me?

**Title:** The Best Years of Our Lives [TBYOL]

**Author:** Seadragon

**Genre:** Humor/Action/Adventure

**Rating:** Pg-13

**Summary: **Alanna, Jon, Raoul, and Gary decide to play a little prank, you know for old time's sakes. Unfortunately, they played a prank on the wrong people… Soon, they find themselves reliving some of the most, let's say interesting, years of their lives. Oops! Next time guys, choose someone else to prank!

**Author's Note:** Whoot! Can you believe it? I have 91 reviews for just five chapters! That's amazing! I love you all! Oh, and I'm sorry this chapter took so long. I hope it's up to par!

That shall be all,

_Seadragon_.

- - - - -

**Chapter 6:** _For Me?_

- - - - -

"Alanna! You have got to learn some self restraint, or we could quite likely be here for the rest of our lives!" Jon shouted at a grinning Alanna. In one hand she held her sword, and she was wearing a page's training clothes. Gary and Raoul were standing a respectful distance from the sword, but laughing none the less.

The other pages were comforting a group of four or five pages who had dared to challenge the Lioness. They were really regretting it, and that is a severe understatement. The last boy she had fought, the son of a baron from down south, was near tears. She had beaten him in less than ten seconds.

She had already been given fifteen bells of punishment work for not following the drill rules, and ha Minch looked ready to give her at least five more for her little 'demonstration'.

In the drill, where they were supposed to be practicing basic staff work, she had given one boy a concussion, and broken the collarbone of another. She just didn't seem to realize that they couldn't exactly keep up with a whirlwind. Most normal people couldn't.

In some ways you could compare her to Numair. She just couldn't do small things, it was all or nothing. Asking her to do a simple drill was like asking an elephant to walk a tightrope. It just didn't happen.

With a sigh, Jon put his hands on her shoulders. "Look, I know this is hard, but you're going to have to get used to the fact that _they just can't keep up with you_. You have to slow down. Please?" He asked her. "For me?"

Alanna the Lioness, one of the most feared warriors in the land, nodded, and put her sword down.

Of all the men in the world, including her husband, only one man had ever been able to tame her. And that was her king.

The pages watched in awe. They could only ever dream of the Lioness being relatively calm, it barely ever happened. And when it did, you saw that she was a woman as well as a warrior, but mostly a warrior. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise, because you shall meet a sticky, sticky end.

When she caught them staring, she snapped at them "What?! Do you want to fight me as well then?"

Quickly, they all muttered some pathetic excuse and wandered away. Alanna grinned again, and turned to the still laughing Gary and Raoul. "What?" She asked them, the grin becoming rather fixed.

Both choked mid laugh. They settled for getting off the fence they were sitting on and walking over to the two. "You can stop touching her now." Gary informed Jon with a smile and a superior tone.

"Oh. Right." Jon said with a nervous laugh, his face coloring slightly. His hands dropped to his side, and Alanna went the same color as him. Raoul threw an arm around her shoulder.

"My dear Lioness, you have much to learn about tact." He said in a cheery voice as they set of towards the palace.

"Oh and I suppose you'll be the one teaching her?" Gary retorted. "All she'll learn from you is a lack therefore of."

"Yes, because you are just oh so tactful yourself Gary." Jon said loftily, slinging his own arm around Alanna's other shoulder. Feeling a little left out, Gary joined in the line on Raoul's side and gave Jon a cheeky grin.

"Why yes I am, I thought you would never notice. There is a reason I'm Prime Minister, and not Raoul." He snorted. "Can you imagine? Raoul as Prime Minister? The country would be in shambles!"

"Hey!"

Ignoring Raoul, Jon replied. "Kind of like it is now, you mean? The recipe for a thriving realm doesn't exactly include the King, Prime Minister, Knight Commander of the King's Own, and the King's Champion doing punishment time."

Gary scowled at his cousin. "We _are not_ doing punishment time!"

"Really? What would you call it then? It's certainly not voluntary." Raoul added. He was greeted with three glares.

"Obviously not." Alanna said in a condescending tone. "If it was voluntary, do you really think I would be here?"

"Well, no." Raoul admitted. "But I'm not the one that said it wasn't punishment time. That was _him_." He elbowed Gary in the side, causing the Prime Minister to step on his foot when he stumbled. Purely by accident of course.

"Oops, sorry!"

"Oh, I'm sure."

"That's not fair! It was an accident! If you hadn't elbowed me in the side, I wouldn't have tripped, and therefore stepped on your foot!"

Alanna and Jon edged away slowly, leaving the two to bicker in the middle of the path leading away from the Palace. By the time the two noticed, they were long gone.

"So, you think you can manage not to lose your temper?" Jon asked her teasingly.

"Think you can manage not to lose yours?" Alanna said slyly. "If I remember correctly, you have a report on obedience due tomorrow. Even _I_ didn't get anything that bad."

"Oh no, writing a report is much worse than polishing all the weapons in the armory for three Sundays."

They were silent for a few minutes as they climbed the hill.

"You know what your problem is?" Alanna said abruptly.

"I have a problem? He asked, furrowing his brow.

"Yes." She said firmly. "You do. You let people make your decisions for you. Stop doing that. Don't you remember how much fun we had as pages?"

"Not particularly…" He replied slowly. "Mostly I just remember you getting endless hours of punishment work for fighting, you breaking every bone in your body that could possibly be broken. And, oh yes, my favorite, fighting the Ysandir."

"Hey!" Alanna protested. "The last one was _your_ fault. You were the one who just _had_ to ride to the Black City in the middle of the night."

"Actually, I seem to remember that being Roger's fault. In a twisted way of course. Was anything he did not twisted?"

"I doubt it." She said wryly, and he grinned.

"But yes, now that you mention it, I suppose we did have fun as pages." Jon admitted reluctantly. "More fun than we did as knights, that's for sure. At least until Roger died that is. The second time, I mean. Say, did I mention how glad I am that you killed him? Twice?"

Alanna laughed. "You may have, once, or a thousand times." Suddenly, her eyes went wide. "That's it!"

"Er, sorry, but what's it? I think I might have missed that." Jon said slowly, not quite getting what she was saying.

"I know what we can do. It would be _the_ perfect prank!" Alanna said ecstatically, her purple eyes practically popping right out of her head in excitement. "Now, here's what we would have to do…"


	7. Chapter 7: Blast from the Past

**The Best Years of Our Lives**

Chapter 7: _Blast from the Past_

* * *

People blinked. People blinked again. And then people fainted.

Why, you ask? Well, wouldn't you if you saw what they had seen? Oh, right, keep your shorts on, let me clear that up for you.

Alanna's prank was, in deed, the best ever. Jon for one was surprised, he felt he was justified in not expecting much considering her last idea had involved large amounts of frogs, and large amounts of important people. Gary and Raoul were just delighted. It really was _the best ever_. Far better than the time they had- actually, it would probably be better to stay on topic.

Any way, walking up to the front of the mess to get their trays were Jonathan of Conte, Gary the Younger of Naxen, Raoul of Goldenlake, and Alan of Trebond. Yes, I said Alan, and no, I'm not out of my mind. You see, this was a very ingenious prank; one that involved copious amounts of magic. But considering the looks on people's faces it really was worth it.

Poor Padraig haMinch keeled over into his generous portion of mashed potatoes, narrowly missing a pitcher of gravy on his way down. After all, it wasn't every day the king, prime minister, leader of the king's army, and the king's champion walked through the mess as children.

Alanna, sorry, _Alan_, took a tray, smiling sweetly at the cook, who took a nervous step back. The other three followed suite, stifling giggles. They had to make this authentic, it just wouldn't work right otherwise. Sooner or later, they would start doubting their minds if all went well, they would think they were either a) seeing things, or b) had been hallucinating their entire lives. Hopefully, it would be the second.

Sliding onto a bench, Alan tentatively speared a carrot on his fork, and sniffed it. Making a face, he put it in his mouth and swallowed. Gary rolled his eyes. "You really oughta learn to chew Alan, it could save your life someday." He said dryly, watching as Alan repeated this exercise several times, until all of his vegetables were gone.

Alan shrugged. "I haven't choked yet, have I?" He moved onto his potatoes, poking them carefully before putting any in his mouth. You might feel that he was overly suspicious of the food, considering the lack of hesitation the other pages were displaying, but that's only because I haven't told you about the time Jon hid rocks in his meat pie.

Gary sighed, tapping his fingers on the table to get Alan's attention back, fighting the temptation to strangle the boy and choke him himself. But that wouldn't do anyone any good, so he settled for digging his nails deep into his palm. "That really isn't the point. You only need to choke once, and it won't happen again."

"Why? Because I'll be more careful after that?" Alan snorted. "Doubtful."

"No." Gary told him, chewing his own carrots carefully, making a rather deliberate point. "Because you'll be dead."

Jon snorted into his potatoes, unable to contain his laughter any longer. Alan looked up from his own potatoes, which were rapidly disappearing, and raised an eyebrow suggestively. The laughter quickly turned into a coughing fit, and Alan returned to his food, a satisfied smirk on his face.

Jon was slowly turning redder and redder. Gary, who just happened to glance at his cousin, reached over to pound him on the back, never pausing in his lively discussion with Raoul about the suspicious color of the peas.

They didn't appear to notice the eyes of everyone in the room on them. That, or they didn't care. Knowing them, it was probably the second.

* * *

After dinner, our heroes gathered together to wander the palace. They still had to plan revenge on Lord Wyldon. They couldn't just let him get away with this, this, blasphemy! Er, I mean, outrage. Right, that's it, _outrage_. Not blasphemy, it's not like they saw themselves as _gods_ or anything…

"Oh he is going to regret the day he messed with us!"

"Alanna-"

"Alan! It's Alan!"

"Alright then, Alan-"

"What?! Can't you see I'm busy making Evil Plans?!"

"Alan!-"

"Quiet! I'm bus- OW!!"

Jon, Gary, and Raoul watched nervously as Alan fell down the flight of stairs. Undoubtedly, they were going to be blamed for this unfortunate turn of events. They were married, they knew how it went.

All three winced in unison when there was a final thud, and then, silence.

"Damn the stairs! DAMN _ALL_ THE STAIRS!" A voice from somewhere down far below them hollered.

Jon turned to Gary and Raoul, his eyes wide. "D'you think that spell affected he-his," he corrected himself hastily, glaring at Gary when he opened his mouth to comment on his slip before continuing. "his mind too?"

Gary shook his head. "Nah, she's always been like that. It might have gotten yours though, _you_ of all people should know that, considering _you_ were the one who was in love with her."

"Why was that again?" Jon muttered quietly to himself as he glanced down the stairs where a redheaded speck was picking itself up and dusting itself off. That really was quite a long fall, now that he looked again, there had to be at least thirty steps there… He shrugged, they had tried to warn him, he had just been too busy making Evil Plans. He hoped they hadn't fallen out of his head when it knocked against the marble, they needed to get Wyldon back now, before their intelligence was sucked out of them by their current environment.

Come to think of it, that might have already happened.

As the aforementioned redheaded speck began to work its way back up the stairs, Jon began to tick things off on his fingers. One, they had gotten into a fight in Math class. Two, they had caused several of the pages to resort to self mutilation to escape their company. Three, they had found much delight in antagonizing Myles. Four, they had whipped the pages in the training yard. And five, and this was the worst in his mind, they had gone along with another of Alanna's crazy schemes. No matter how great this prank was, they couldn't just ignore the fact that the last time they had played a prank, they had ended up as pages.

A loud crash distracted Jon from his check list and he glanced down the stairs again.

He sighed. So much for that then. It looked as though they were going to have to resign themselves to spending the rest of their lives as pages. This depressing thought was only consolidated by the fact that Alan appeared to have just started a fistfight with a suit of armor. And the armor appeared to be winning.


End file.
